Lack of shadowing

[BigEast55]

---

Members don't see this ad.

So, I am applying to med school, but I have no shadowing... I have a year of volunteering at a hospital but no direct shadowing of an MD. Will I still be able to get in? Will I be at a serious disadvantage?

 

[mtnman12]

You will be at a SERIOUS disadvantage. I don't know your stats, but with mine I was not accepted until I did some shadowing. You still have tons of time, do 40 hours this summer with 2-3 different doc's and you'll be fine. Serious the dean of admissions told me I wasn't accepted at Creighton solely because I didn't have enough shadowing.

 

[Transmogrifier]

I think both clinical experience (via work or volunteering) and shadowing are absolutely necessary. Clinical experience tells the adcom you like healthcare/medicine in general. Shadowing lets you say you actually want to be the doctor and not the RT, RN, DNP, CRNA, PA, MA, etc. You can shadow one doc for a long time and maybe get a good LOR from him, or you can show you still like medicine after shadowing several physicians in different specialties for a shorter amount of time.

 

[TheMagicCookie]

Yes, you definitely need shadowing. You might also want to get some more volunteering if other areas of your app are going to be below average. What kind of clinical experience have you gotten?

 

[aznb0y129]

So, I am applying to med school, but I have no shadowing... I have a year of volunteering at a hospital but no direct shadowing of an MD. Will I still be able to get in? Will I be at a serious disadvantage?

While I agree that shadowing a doctor is probably beneficial, I didn't have any shadowing on my application and only 150 hours of clinical volunteering. Granted, I have a heavy research background so that probably compensated, but I don't think it held me back DRASTICALLY. I still managed to get into an MD program that was relatively comparable with my GPA and MCAT scores.

 

[sharona1121]

One admissions director from a top med school said PLS don't shadow especially if you already have had clinical exposure/volunteer experience in a hospital setting. He said he's sick of seeing a gazillion applicants "shadow" and everyone basically be the same kind of applicant.

What I took away from his comment and just general research into all of this shadowing/volunteering business is you just need to confidently show, through whatever experience (whether it's volunteering/shadowing), that you KNOW what it's like to be a doctor.

If you feel like you can intelligently and convincingly show the adcom that you know what it's like a doctor, through your hospital volunteer experience (and that shows through on your app and in your interviews), you're fine.

Is it "safer" to have some shadowing experience? sure... but I definitely don't think it's really really necessary if you think you've had meaningful exposure elsewhere.

 

[NickNaylor]

One admissions director from a top med school said PLS don't shadow especially if you already have had clinical exposure/volunteer experience in a hospital setting. He said he's sick of seeing a gazillion applicants "shadow" and everyone basically be the same kind of applicant.

What I took away from his comment and just general research into all of this shadowing/volunteering business is you just need to confidently show, through whatever experience (whether it's volunteering/shadowing), that you KNOW what it's like to be a doctor.

If you feel like you can intelligently and convincingly show the adcom that you know what it's like a doctor, through your hospital volunteer experience (and that shows through on your app and in your interviews), you're fine.

Is it "safer" to have some shadowing experience? sure... but I definitely don't think it's really really necessary if you think you've had meaningful exposure elsewhere.

I don't know what your experience has been, but for me shadowing has been a completely different thing then other clinical experiences (i.e., volunteering at the hospital). Shadowing gives you a relatively realistic idea of what it's like to work in an office everyday. Volunteering is just slave labor.

That's been my experience anyway.

 

[farrago]

One admissions director from a top med school said PLS don't shadow especially if you already have had clinical exposure/volunteer experience in a hospital setting. He said he's sick of seeing a gazillion applicants "shadow" and everyone basically be the same kind of applicant.

What I took away from his comment and just general research into all of this shadowing/volunteering business is you just need to confidently show, through whatever experience (whether it's volunteering/shadowing), that you KNOW what it's like to be a doctor.

If you feel like you can intelligently and convincingly show the adcom that you know what it's like a doctor, through your hospital volunteer experience (and that shows through on your app and in your interviews), you're fine.

Is it "safer" to have some shadowing experience? sure... but I definitely don't think it's really really necessary if you think you've had meaningful exposure elsewhere.

So, an admissions director is, basically, BORED of seeing the same thing on applications. Remember, guys, admissions directors at top medical schools want to be ENTERTAINED! Don't disappoint! 🙄

 

[sharona1121]

So, an admissions director is, basically, BORED of seeing the same thing on applications. Remember, guys, admissions directors at top medical schools want to be ENTERTAINED! Don't disappoint! 🙄

=)

I think he's basically saying you need to stand out and shadowing doesn't really make you stand out. I definitely think it's important to show that you've had clinical exposure though (whatever it's through...meaningful shadowing experience or otherwise). Basically, don't do it to check the box!

 

[NeuroKidd]

Shadowing in itself may not be that important - especially if you're just doing it to do it. But it can make for good discussion in an interview, particularly if your desire to become a physician was confirmed somehow while you were observing. Letting schools know that you are aware of what you're getting yourself into is definitely important.

 

[kristell]

Shadowing probably just recently became an 'unofficial' med-school requirement. Actually yesterday while I was shadowing I met a psychiatrist and a rehab medicine doctor. They are both in residency and they asked me why I was following their boss and I asked them if they never did it to get into med school and they said no. However, the anesthesiologist in charge said he did a whole lot of shadowing while an undergrad and someone from adcom at UTHSCSA told me they did not accept a girl from Stanford because she didn't have any shadowing experience so yes, definitely shadow as much as you can.

 

[mtnman12]

Shadowing probably just recently became an 'unofficial' med-school requirement. Actually yesterday while I was shadowing I met a psychiatrist and a rehab medicine doctor. They are both in residency and they asked me why I was following their boss and I asked them if they never did it to get into med school and they said no. However, the anesthesiologist in charge said he did a whole lot of shadowing while an undergrad and someone from adcom at UTHSCSA told me they did not accept a girl from Stanford because she didn't have any shadowing experience so yes, definitely shadow as much as you can.

Agreed... why would anyone in this thread be saying not to shadow? I guarantee that next year every single adcom will see volunteering and clinical experience as different than job shadowing. Otherwise explain why I had over 2000 hours working in a dialysis clinic, with 4 physicians, and was told I need "formal shadowing" to be accepted. Why? Just like someone said, shadowing gives you great things to talk about. Even if you're doing it just to shadow - you'll come away with experiences that make you a better applicant.

So being bored by seeing shadowing everywhere? Wrong wrong.

 

[slowbutsteady]

As LizzyM says: "If you are close enough to smell the patients, it's clinical."

You need direct contact with sick people. Shadowing is one way of doing that, but there are many other ways.

If your work in a hospital involved patient contact, you'll be fine.

Med schools just want to make sure you know what doctor work is like.